The Masks of the Apocalypse
by DarkDiDlly
Summary: An airless atmosphere. Meteorites reign the sky. Utter Chaos reaps the souls of the unfortunate. Some may not survive the masks of the apocalypse.
1. Epilogue

**A/N: I know that Code Geass takes place in 2017, but for the story to make sense I had to dial it back a few years. Basically, this takes place in early season one. Read, Review, and enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. I totally wish I did, though.**

Bing*Bing*Bing

_This is Milly Ashford, your student council president, ordering you to hunker down and store for the end of the world. *giggle*The Mayans were right everybody, so now let's ride this out. We'll al be perfectly fine with protection of Suzaku Kururugi and the Lancelot, made possible by my fiancé, Earl Lloyd of Pudding. Thanks Honey!_

_All clubs gather in the dorms and stay there until I announce you can leave. All necessary preparations have been handled, and precautions have been taken. No one is to exit the buildings. If you must, take the secret tunnels leading below the school, AKA: The Sewers. Nobody wants to get hit by a meteorite now do we? _

_Gather your essential supplies for survival as fast as you can. You all must be in your quarters at the sound of Nunally's voice, Over and out. *giggle*_

I turn off the mike, and my mask comes off. I may sound girlish and nonchalant over the intercom, but inside my fear and worry has consumed my whole being. December 21, 2012, the end of the world, has come, as the Mayans predicted.

If anyone at this school is injured it will be on my head, and I would never forgive myself. But that is not going to happen. I won't let it. I slam my fist down on the keyboard. Nothing will happen to anyone here.

Staring out the window, or rather, facing out the window, Nunally silently waits for Lelouch and Suzako to return from whatever it is they are doing. Shirley and Rivalz are preparing the council room, for that is where the council will be stationed. Nunally will be unable to live in the dorms, so I put in a request to Grand Dad, and everything worked out. Kallen and Sayoko are sitting in with us in the announcement room. Kallen is pacing about and Sayokotends to Nunally as she slumps in her transport. As soon as Lelouch and Suzaku return we willsound the alarm.

I check every monitor screen, twice. Lelouch and Suzaku are nowhere in the building. I am going to cut their heads off and serve them to the elevens when they get here. Grrrrr…..

I dial Lelouch's number and step out into the hall, closing the door. Pressing the phone to my ear, I look out the window into the fiery red sky. It would be breath taking if not for the horrible dangers lurking within the space. Comets are flashing in the sky, trying to pierce our atmosphere of security, and catching fire in the process. None have broken the shield, but it is only a matter of time before a meteorite hits the earth.

A dark sun barely peeks through the swirling grey storm clouds, and-

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" I snap curtly. He has disappeared for three hours, to pick up food and water from the grocery. I was going to send Sayoko, her being the maid, but he had to volunteer, preaching how it's dangerous for a young women to be out in such abysmal conditions . Not wanting to play the part of a bitch, I let him go, but I am not holding back right now.

I know he likes to gamble, but he really is risking his neck taking this long. I'm going to have his ass on a platter when he gets home.

"I'm coming home with supplies as we speak." His voice is nonchalant and cool, as always, showing he is not in any danger.

"Well, hurry. Shirley is having a hissy fit." She isn't, but it's so obvious she loves him, so I tease them about it. Constantly

"Alright, Alright, I'm trying, bu-

An explosion rattles the phone, and the line disconnects. I stare at the phone, slowly realizing all of the gruesome events that had happened to Lu-Lu.

Frantically, I dial again. This is no time for pranks, Lelouch. God, pick up, please. You have to pick up.

"EEE,EEE,EEE! _I'm sorry, the number you are calling is not available-_

I try three more times. No answer

Suzaku! Yeah, Suzaku is in the military. He can save Lelouch.

I hang up and call Suzaku, but receive the same monotone voice. Where would he be at a time like this? Does my phone not have any bars? Is there no reception inside the Lancelot? He really should pick up at a time like this.

Maybe Lloyd, my horrible fiancé, will know where Kururugi is. I contemplate dialing his number, and grudging press in the correct keys.

When he answers I can literally feel steam rising from my ears.

"Helllooo..?" He drawls, showing no signs of worry and contempt, like always. If I could, I would reach through the phone and punch him square in the face.

"Where is Suzaku?" I demand.

"Oh. Zero crawled out again. Terrorizing the capitol again. Apparently the apocalypse is the perfect time to start an ambush. The Lancelot is in the midst of battle. Goodbyyyyeee…" Click

"LLYOD! We need him here. LLYOD? LISTEN PUDDING BOY, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-" I march my feet and throw my fist at the wall. That little man is going to pay-

Red hair pokes out of the announcement room. "Are you OK? We can here you screaming…" I freeze, then brush invisible dust from my pants nonchalantly, turning to Kallen.

I place the mask on once again.

I close my eyes, and wave my hand dismissively, "Of course, what could be wrong?" I brush past her, and I feel her tense. She knows I'm lying, as always. It's almost as if she knows the storm before it comes. She is much more mature than a sheltered little cripple should be.

I walk past Sayoko. She rolls Nunally up to the intercom.

"Time to shine, Nunally." She nods.

Exhale. Inhale. I turn on the intercom.

Bing*Bing*Bing

_Time's up everybody. Get in your respective places and let's ride this out. Listen for announcements with any updates._

I hand the Nunally the mike. She took a tiny breath and-

_MEEOOOWWW!_

The faintest of 'meow's echoes her from the dorms, bringing a small smile to my lips. For a brief moment I wonder where Arthur is.

Bending down and adding great sugar to my hollow voice, I tell Nunally, "Thank you, Nunally, you did wonderful."

She smiles a genuine beautiful smile, and says, "Your welcome. It is always a pleasure," but the smile melts off her face, and she asks, "But where is Lelouch?" As her smile would light up any room, her frown could cut off all sunlight from the brightest of places.

I breathe in…

And lie through my teeth.

"He couldn't make it all the way to the council room, so he landed himself a room in the boy's dorm." I force another giggle out of my closing throat.

I hate lying to Nunally.

She smiles, and the sun peeks out once more. "Ok, hopefully he won't have that much trouble living with those wild boys." Now it was her turn to giggle, except hers is real.

"Yeah…" I smile a sad smile, and luckily Nunally cannot see it.

I signal for Sayoko to take Nunally to her quarters.

As the door opens, Arthur enters and Sayoko and Nunally exit, the little troublemaker.

Arthur, being the wonderful kitty he is, hops into my arms and snuggles profusely. I pet his head, and turn to the window once more. His grey fur is covered in soot from outside. You would think we lived next to an active volcano.

Kallen speaks, surprising me. I forgot of her existence for a moment.

"What really happened to Lelouch?"

My throat closes. I don't answer. I can't. I open my mouth and an inaudible squeak is all I can say. I shake my head, never looking back at her, because I can't let her see through the mask. I can't let anyone. I have to lead.

She understands, and rises to her feet. As she walks through the doorway, I give her the truth, because I know she can handle it, unlike anyone else one the council.

"I don't know."

She turns in the doorway, looking back, sadness radiating off her face like a flickering lightbulb for a closet. As she leaves once again I know she will not tell anyone.

I don't notice as she walks the wrong hallway and exits the building.

Tears slip from my eyes, and I burrow my face into my warm, fuzzy, loving Arthur, trying to hide from the broken world. For once, I wish he could talk, just to answer the question that will nag my soul for eternity to come…

Lelouch, where are you?

I sit in my chair. I silently watch the churning clouds grasping at the eternal bliss that is sleep.

I need my vice-president.


	2. Airless Atmosphere

Chapter Two

The sun explodes, rattling the earth. The sky turns a dank shade of yellow, casting a shadow on the world. The comets become much larger in size. In short…

We are so screwed.

I scramble to the intercom, wasting no time to alert the dorms.

_Bing*Bing*Bing_

The mask comes on.

_Hey guys, the end has begun. The base of our solar system has probably exploded and dissolved into itself, but let's try to keep our spirits up. With all of the fire in the sky we won't get cold anytime soon, so no real reason to worry. *Giggle* In conclusion, I have decided what our next activity will be..._

_Banana-_

KABOOM!

The meteorites have arrived.

The earth below my feet thunders, knocking the mike from my clammy hands. Knocked from my chair, I tumble across the room full of falling computers and into the hall. Arthur sprints away in the opposite direction, hackles raised, leaving a trail of soot billowing behind him. I manage to shakily stand, partly from the mega-earthquake and partly because of my wobbly legs. I trip and stunble down to the main room, knocking into walls for support.

When I enter my eyes scan the room. I make a checklist of who is there and who is not.

Nunally…CHECK; She's by the window…

Sayoko… CHECK; …with Sayoko

Shirley…CHECK; She is sitting at one of the ballroom tables crying.

Rivalz…CHECK; He is running towards me joyous and fearful at the same time.

Kallen…

…

"WHERE IS KALLEN STOCKFELD!?" I screech at the council, who all look up in discontent and confusion. Their heads whip to and fro, cattails in the breeze, or rather earthquake.

"She was with you…" Rivalz mutters as he scans the room. He looks back at me with the pain and stress I feel reflected in his eyes. I grab my head, ready to curl up into a ball and cry.

Rivalz is thrown into me by the earthquake, and I wake up. Shoving him off of me, I resume my leadership and start with a plan.

"Alright," I shout hurriedly, mask back in its rightful place, "Rivalz, you search the upstairs. Shirley, you take the west corridors. I will take the east. Nunally and Sayoko, you stay here in case she returns. DISBAND!"

I sprint/stagger towards my assigned area. When I stumble through into the east halls, I call out a long and deliberate, "KALLEN, " and receive no answer.

I ready my voice again, but am thrown to the ground by a major earthquake. My head knocks against the wall, and my vision waves like the shaking ceiling.

I land in front of a window pane. The tables in the main room are crushed, shattered, and the chandelier crashes down, narrowly missing Rivalz as he runs under it and up the stairway.

I pull myself up just in time to witness the upstairs cave, Rivalz nowhere in sight.

The east hallways topple on top of Shirley, her face distorted in a silent shriek and her arms twisted above her head.

The Nunally and Sayoko's window shatter and pierce them with its gleaming shards, blood splashing across the tiles, a sharp contrast even to my blurry vision.

The wide hallway entrance lets me see everything. Finally, it crumbles and blocks me off from the main room, and the horrible images that will be engraved in my mind for years to come, if I make it that far.

I ram myself into the fallen ceiling. I pull and scratch the landslide of stone and carpet. I manage to move a few big chunks, but nothing that made me closer to my council, my family.

I settle to wail to my missing friends, like a helpless baby to its missing mother.

"KALLEN?!" My head aches for a response. Where is my trusted friend and ally in council-ness

…

"RIVALZ!?" I start kicking the blue felt walls, trying to create more of a racket to be heard. Usually, the love-sick puppy would run to my side, begging for a treat and a praise, not that I ever gave him one. I would just drag him behind the boat, as the saying goes.

…

"SHIRLEY?!" Shirley, I need you right now. I know I creep you out with my perverted-ness, but they really are meant to be complements.

…

"SAYOKO?!" I need an adult figure. I'm tired of leading. I want to follow. Please answer me.

…

"NUNALLY?!" I need your sunshine Nunally. Living in a world without you is like living in a world without happiness and rainbows.

…

Jesus, They can't all be dead. They just can't. My family can't be dead. They aren't. They aren't dead. I won't let them be.

I pry myself from the blockade. I begin to stagger down the hall towards the boys' dormitory, the closest area with human life in my access. Maybe I was right. Maybe Lelouch did make it to the dorm. I need to find him. He has to be there. He can help me save the council. Because he is Lelouch.

I need my vice president.

"LELOUCH?" a slight whisper, but the name rings loud in my soul, forcing me to my feet.

I wobble and falter towards the boy's dorm. They can help. Boys are big and strong. They can help me lift the big rocks of the barricade. They will help. They will help their president.

I descend on my slow journey down the corridors, taking the occasional moment to slump against the wall and cry. Once I fell to my knees, and prayed for my friends' deliverance, even though I don't harbor the slightest belief in 'god'.

Damn it, I never realized how far away the dorms are.

Finally, after a long 'walk', consisting of crying and tripping, I reach the end of the hallway, where the path to the boys leads outside into the foyer of the grounds.

I told everyone to stay _inside,_ and now I'm the one going _outside._ I am such a hypocrite.

I take a deep breath, another, one more, and finally sprint out the door.

I try to inherit a decent pattern of breathing, but soon find that there is no oxygen outside. The atmosphere fell releasing all of the air into the depths of space.

I continue to sprint, my feet slapping across the red, brick tiles, more desperate to make it to the other side than before. Because, of course, everyone needs air to survive.

The air is being sucked to Mars' atmosphere, so if I don't make it to the dorms I will die. Simple

I never realized how huge the foyer is. I'm barely halfway and I'm floundering in the oxygen-less air.

A giant rock crashes into the red ten feet from my struggling form. The force sends me skidding on the bricks and sprawled on the ground

I can't feel my legs. Having fallen to the pavement, I look back at them, but my vision is clouded.

I try to pull my heavy body with my arms, but soon they too disappear from my body. I force myself to stand, but nothing happens. My oxygen-deprived body isn't listening at this point.

I feel completely and utterly useless. A feeling I am growing quite used to.

The black creeps across my being and consumes my entire world.

Damn, I fell in the apocalypse and the zombies aren't even here yet.

_This is Milly Ashford, your student council president, signing off for the last time *giggle*…_

Nothing


	3. The Boy's Dorm

Chapter Three

Surprisingly, I wake up…

…On top of a table covered with boys' underpants and candy wrappers. Disgusting

"Hey, she's waking up, guys." Someone close shouts in a, deep, masculine voice. Ooh- La-La. No, stop it. You almost died just a second ago. I feel a hand caressing mine, but don't have the strength to lift my aching head and see who it is.

"Hey, Prez," Deep Voice coo's, "are you feeling okay? You were out for two days."

Two days… "WHAT?!" I lurch up, panic fraying at my thoughts, surely throwing the person possessing the hand across the room. "WHERE IS MY COUNCIL?!"

Two muscly males wrestle me down, one blond and brunette. I kick and flail, trying to get them off of me. I screech for my council. They've been buried in rubble for two days! They don't have much time. I have to save them. Blonde-y gets dirty underwear in his chiseled face.

"Calm Down," Deep Voice commands, "Calm Down." I feel someone's hand on my hand again, and lose all of my will to fight.

"…my council," I sob, "they're all dead… *sob* …I couldn't protect the-*hiccup* them. I failed…*sob*" They release me, so I curl into a pathetic ball on the hard wood, and let all of the tears remaining drain from my worthless face. The soot from Arthur smears like a bad mascara.

Arthur? Did he make it? Probably not, but he's a cat, so it doesn't matter… right. God, who am I kidding. He was the most important of all. His grey fur lit up the room like Nunally's smile. No, Nunally, oh no, Lelouch will kill me. Hell, I'll kill me. Oh god…

"Uh," Deep Voice cuts into my thoughts, "I'm sure Arthur and Nunally are fine."

Shit, was I talking, I finally look at Deep Voice's face, handsome with deep hazel eyes, and everything comes pouring out in a flurry of sobs and strained tears from dried eyes. Everything, from the announcement to the chandelier, to Nunally getting a face of glass, to finding there was no oxygen in the atmosphere. The whole story Deep Voice kept his poker-face, nodding and shaking his head. I would almost think he didn't care, but his eyes were true pools of sadness. It really made him look totally hot.

Damn it, Milly, snap out of it.

They let me up after I calm down and stop weeping uselessly. I shouldn't have done that, let the mask fall. These people rely on me too much. I am not allowed to break, not even for my lost council and friends.

Propping myself on an extra-large pair of spandex, I examine my surroundings for the first time. The cafeteria, which is connected to the boy's dorms, the library to the girl's, is infested with garbage and smelly close. Many of the boys were not wearing shirts, some not wearing pants. The apocalypse has not lasted long enough for everyone to be out of clean uniforms. Boys are pigs.

Blonde, Brunette, and Deep Voice walk away from me, but before Deep Voice can escape I swat the back of his head. He is also no wearing a shirt, and has a washboard stomach. His hair is jet black and his skin a nice tan, perfectly blending into his hazel-nut eyes-

I could totally hit that.

"Why the hell is everyone half naked?" I cross my arms and close my eyes, completely content with my leadership and the boy's respect for me. Some idiot slaps my ass, I whip around and punch him in the jaw. He stumbles back with a stupid grin on his stupid face. He isn't smiling after I knee him in the balls, though.

Deep Voice's mouth hangs limp, and I answer my own question. "Right, boys are pigs."

He smirks and waves for me to follow him. He sits down at a small chestnut lunch bench covered in dirty clothes. I flick off a pair of boxers and a half-chewed granola bar before I seat myself.

I start the conversation, "What did I miss?"

He frowns, scrunching his black brows, and begins, "Well, nothing much. A few girls tried to make it across the foyer. Only one other than you survived," He bites his lip stressfully. I wonder who it is, "She hasn't woken up yet, but she's in the 'sick bay'" he air quotes and points over to the corner of the lunch room. "It was pretty scary. Her heart wasn't beating. The medical club tried some CPR, and right before we called it quits her heart started again. Miracles like that don't come along every day."

"Really?" I was genuinely surprised. The girl's dorm was farther away than the council hall. She ran at least twice as far as me and still made it. That is amazing. "How did she get so far?"

"I have no idea. Maybe when she wakes up she can tell us. I'm kinda getting worried, though. She hasn't eaten anything in days, and the medical never learned how to test tube feed someone." He scratches his mess of hair, looking at his torn jeans, "If she doesn't wake up soon she won't make it."

My stomach growls, loudly. His head jerks up, and he laughs sheepishly, "Wow. Where are my manners? My name's Drake. You hungry?"

My head bounces up and down, automatically, and Drake grabs my wrist and drags me to the kitchen pick-up window. "Two cheese pizzas please," he holds up his two fingers for clarity, and smiles. The young cook on duty, probably from the chef's club, scurries away to get the order. Something occurs to me. "Where are all of the school staff and administrators?"

Drake doesn't bother turning his head from the kitchen window, "Don't know, but we found Gary the lunch guy dead outside, probably trying to make a run for it."

I never really knew Gary, because I lived in the girls dorm, but his amazing meals were legendary, much better than the girl's chef, Roberta, a Mexican worker who was probably on parole, because she obviously didn't want to work in the lunchroom. Her food was so terrible that for lunch, the council would gather in the room and usually order pizza or have Sayoko cook. Now, _she_ was a magnificent cook, almost unreal. She was the person who made me respect the Japanese culture.

The cook brings our pizzas and Drake hands him a Kit Kat Bar. I raise my eyebrow for a quizzical look, but he shrugs and says "There is no use for money here." He hands me my pizza and walks towards the infirmary. Following, I almost step on a guy who appears drunk on sharpie fumes, having marker scribbled under his nose.

I rip a bite out of the gooey cheese, and jog to catch up to Drake. Mmmm…

I catch up and stand by Drake's muscly arm in front of a big green sheet. It appeared to be nailed to the wall and draped across rectangle lunch-tables propped on their side to create a fort about 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Drake ducks under the green sheet with me close behind. Upon entrance the room is quite small, but as you stand up everything pans out to create a medium-sized room.

There are many people in the infirmary, some with bruises and concussions after what appears to be a fist fight, and some who look air-deprived, like they had taken a chance in the atmosphere outside.

As I look at all of the injuries, I ask, "Why wasn't I put in here." My voice is faint and depressed by the melancholy air of the tent.

"There are too many people, and since you are the president, we thought you could handle being out with the boys. I mean, you are a people's person." He chuckles a throaty chuckle, deeper than his voice, but lessening the blanket of air pressing around us. I smile, feeling the mood of the nurses inside the tent with us lightening too.

Drake crosses a sea of bodies until he kneels beside one in the middle of the row. He has black, tussled hair and my heart jumps in my chest. I bound over the wounded and kneel next to him, but my hopes are dashed when it is not Lelouch I am looking at, but someone I do not know. I almost groan with disappointment, but clam it when I see the deep pools of sadness reappear in Drake's eyes. "Who is he?"

"My brother." The shortest answer he has given me all day, but I see the resemblance, black hair with the same chiseled features, but younger. I decide not to speak, instead nodding my grievances.

We sit for quite a while, so when he stands it startles me. He steps over some bodies lying on the floor with blankets, and kneels next to one at the far end of the tent, next to the wall. Less enthusiastic this time, I follow, and kneel. This must be the girl from the dorm. I put my hand to her head, brushing away her long hair, and then test her pulse. She seems completely normal, except her comatose state.

And her beautiful hair, a luscious shade of green.

**A/N: C.C.! Read and Review, Please!**


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